Newly elected Rep. Bill Enyart said Congress has no appetite for another round of base closings, but that doesn't guarantee that another BRAC won't be on our nation's menu.
In fact, Chuck Hagel, President Obama's nominee for defense secretary, is opening the door to that possibility. He said he would consider another Round of Base Realignment and Closures, what he considers a "fair and comprehensive way" to downsize the military. And even Enyart said that as a community, we need to start planning now on how to make the case for Scott Air Force Base just in case.
It makes more sense to start work on that and breathe a sigh of relief if BRAC doesn't come to pass rather than to assume it won't happen and later find ourselves scrambling. Scott just got passed over for the new refueling tankers, which was a shock to many people. If there's one lesson to take away, it's that we can't be comfortable or complacent when it comes to the future of Scott.
